E. Procka's The Getaway poster
Sorry - missed an entry last week (and there’s a good chance these won’t be so religiously consistent in the future), but that’s alright, I come bearing gifts: this time, it’s a cool-ass poster! As is the case with the last couple entries, I do not personally own this stunning piece, and there appears to be only this one specific copy available online for sale right now. Just promise me that if you decide to buy it, you send me a message and let me know you did so I don’t have to wonder what happened to it, alright?
As it currently stands, most of my art-bearing walls are reasonably occupied, but I find myself constantly looking at paintings, posters and prints online anyway, on the off-chance I might see something worth rearranging my decor for. Movie posters are generally pretty low on my list, mostly because I am not a college student in a dorm room, or maybe more accurately, because I am subconsciously fearful someone might equate my taste level with that of a college student in a dorm room. Still, when I came across this great poster for Sam Peckinpah’s 1972 action-thriller The Getaway, it caught my eye immediately. That menacing, shadowy, hazelnut-colored eye; the aubergine-hued balaclava, its woolen weave rendered impeccably; the enchanting Polish language rendered in an alarming font (which translates to the descriptive “Escape of the Gangster”); how psyched would you be if you put together a bank-heist thriller and the artist in charge of promoting it sent you this??
I actually saw The Getaway for the first time in the past year, a tiny portion of my life that manages to hold the majority of films I’ve ever seen. With streaming services at what I believe will be considered their peak (it’s simply too affordable1 and easy to cast an endless array of movies to our screens right now), I’ve been knocking out almost a movie a day for the past year. I really loved The Getaway, with all the double-crosses, narrow escapes and suitcases of cash one could reasonably expect, plus the immaculate Steve McQueen shines in the leading role, whom my dad always said I resembled as a kid (and while I don’t quite see it, I’d be a fool to argue with that kind of comparison2).
As much as I love the poster’s image, I can’t actually recall any scenes with a balaclava3 in the movie. Maybe early on, during a robbery? I have such a terrible time remembering factual aspects of movies, even ones I really enjoyed, but let me assure you that the balaclava does not play a pivotal role in the film, at least as best as I can recall. But that didn’t stop E. Procka from delivering this fantastic image!
Speaking of E. Procka, this poster was so good that I had to look them up. I wasn’t able to learn much about them through some basic googling, not even what the E stands for, but this clearly wasn’t their only poster: check out this insane “boobs with a foot” design for 1984’s Eskimo Woman Feel Cold(?), or this unnervingly warm image of a giant bullet, or this crafty black and white rendering for 1981’s Long Drive To School. The color pictures remind me of the fantastic stuff Robert Beatty’s been pumping out for the past decade, vivid airbrushings that place the surreal within the natural. If you’re like me, you’ve already added “E. Procka” to your eBay saved search list, if not necessarily to purchase so much as to simply feast the eyes on the work of this fascinating and unheralded artist.
Are all these services going to let us share passwords forever?
It sure beats my other comparison: Liam McPoyle.
Kinda childish and possibly even mildly problematic of me, but I will always appreciate images of devious balaclava-clad faces. My appreciation probably started with GI Joes as a child, and more recently, on the covers of multiple Youth Attack! records by artists like Cult Ritual and City Hunter. Oh, and this crewneck by Maharishi, which is probably the first piece of “streetwear” I’ve ever purchased, way back in the mid aughts.
